LONGMONT -- The first Catholic church building to open in Longmont in more than a century was dedicated in an elaborate ceremony Thursday evening.

Parishioners packed into the new church in southwest Longmont for the dedication, aptly scheduled on the feast day for St. Francis.

"This is the end of one chapter in life of this parish," said the Rev. James Conley, the former auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Denver, who presided over the Mass. "But it's also the beginning of something very new, and something very beautiful because now you have a home, a permanent home."

The Rev. Frank Maroney takes a look at the progress inside the nave, the part of the church where the congregation will sit, Wednesday at the new St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Longmont. To watch a video from the dedication of the first new Catholic church building in 130 years, visit www.timescall.com.
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Matthew Jonas
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St. Francis of Assisi's permanent home is the first Catholic church building to open in Longmont since the city's other Catholic parish, St. John the Baptist, built its facilities in 1882.

The new 18,000-square-foot building includes a sanctuary that can seat up to 478, a narthax, classrooms, offices and a fellowship hall with a commercial kitchen. The stone and stucco building sits on the church's 14-acre property southwest of Pike and Airport roads. Along the sanctuary's center aisle, the ceiling rises to 28 feet. A stained glass window featuring St. Francis sits above the altar.

For the past four years, the parish worshiped in an office space at 2410 Trade Centre Ave. that could seat about 300.

The Rev. James Conley, the bishop-designate of Lincoln, Neb., and the former auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Denver, right, pours oil onto the altar during the anointing of the altar and church Thursday at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church.
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Matthew Jonas
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Parishioner Arleen Mack of Longmont, who sits on the church's pastoral council, said that Wednesday morning's the final Mass at the old space was "very emotional."

"Because we are a small community and we all worked very hard together toward the same goal, we became a very intimate and loving family. ... One of the things now is how do we keep that intimacy and grow?" she said.

About 525 families now belong to St. Francis, and average attendance at four weekend Masses is between 750 and 850, said St. Francis pastor the Rev. Frank Maroney.

"I'm just very excited to finally have a space that doesn't hem us in," he said.

The parish's roots go back to 1982, when Spirit of Peace Catholic Church began meeting at Longmont's Westview Presbyterian Church. In late 2007, the parish changed its name to St. Francis and moved to a temporary home on Trade Centre Avenue.

Fundraising for the $5.4 million project has been challenging, Maroney said.

"We started our capital campaign in 2008 and two weeks later, the economy tanked," he said. "So everything that we've done here has happened in this recession period."

To date, parishioners have donated about $2.4 million. The archdiocese loaned the remainder, which the parish will pay back.

Maroney praised the generosity of the congregation. In addition to money, parishioners donated several items, including a tapestry of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a wooden statue of Mary and the infant Jesus from Vietnam, and a statue of St. Francis and a dog for a small meditation garden outside the church.

The new facility is the first phase of a long-term plan that includes building a larger chapel that can seat up to 1,000. The next phase of the project will depend on how quickly St. Francis grows, Maroney said.

The Archdiocese of Denver has 3 million registered Catholics, which amounts to about 16 percent of the general population.

Maroney said he hopes the growing parish will reach lapsed Catholics who may have moved away from the faith, as well as people in Longmont and neighboring Niwot and Gunbarrel who did not have a church nearby.

"We want to provide the opportunity for them to start thinking what's the place of God in your life and what do you want it to be?" he said.

Parishioner and finance council member Mike Swedbergh of Longmont compared the church's journey towards its new building to the Biblical story of Moses and the Israelites, who wandered the desert for 40 years.

The Rev. James Conley, the bishop-designate of Lincoln, Neb., and the former auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Denver officiates during the incensation of the altar during dedication Thursday at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church.
(
Matthew Jonas
)

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